Abduction

8: The Truth Comes Out

"Erika, we're home!" Annette's voice boomed down the hallway. I switched the tv off and met her in the kitchen to find her and Elizabeth carrying in tons of shopping bags from various stores.

"Woah, I thought you were going to some charity auction?" I asked looking at all of their things.

Elizabeth shrugged, "We stopped by the mall on the way back."

"And," Annette said as she held up a small bag, "We got you a little surprise."

I reached over and grabbed the bag from her and pulled out a brand new iPhone box, "Oh my god!"

She laughed, "I also was able to have them transfer all your contacts and photos over. I figure it would help you feel more at home and trusted by us."

I squealed excitedly and ran over to hug her. I thanked her repeatedly and watched Elizabeth do a mini haul of all the things she got until we heard banging at the door. We all walked over to it and watched as Annette pulled it open to reveal a bunch of police officers. This could not be good.

"We need to speak to you and your daughter, Erika." One of them told her. She nodded and motioned for them to come in. Elizabeth and I followed everyone to the dining room and we sat down. The police officer began to explain.

"We put a rush order in the lab on the tests as soon as you left. Our detectives confirmed the fingerprinting matched and we received a phone call from the lab that the DNA matched. This means Erika truly is your biological daughter who you lost."

Oh my god.

Elizabeth smiled and put her arm around me to give me a side hug, but then he continued.

"This means it is now our main priority to obtain Mike and Lisa Fisher, the people Erika believed to be her parents. However, when we went to the address you gave us the house appeared to be empty. We didn't have a search warrant, but upon asking the neighbors they said they noticed the couple carrying out multiple large bags and driving their car away late Saturday night."

This wasn't happening.

Elizabeth realized I was tensing up and released me.

"We then checked your phone and found messages from Mike saying they had to get away and knew you were here. Did you contact them?"

All eyes fell on me. I shook my head, "N-no! I haven't even had a phone until five minutes ago. The only person who knew was my friend, Stacy Miller."

One of the officers jotted down a note before looking to Annette, "The best option is to take this public, now. We have to give the okay to news stations in the area to publish the story and photos of Mike and Lisa to try to stop them from hiding somewhere else."

She gasped, "We haven't even told the rest of the family!" 

"Well, you have about an hour, maybe two. Trust us on this, it's time to let it out." 

As all the officers left, I sat frozen at the dining table. So much had just happened and I couldn't bring myself to do much more than breathe.

"Erika," Elizabeth asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

I shook my head, "I think I just need to be alone."

She nodded and I heard Annette from the next room over speaking to people on the phone about me. She was taking the officers advice and telling the rest of the family I had been found before the rest of the world figured it out.

--

"Jacob just told me to check out channel 2 news!" Elizabeth shouted. I rushed over to the living room and watched as my face lit up the television screen.

"Fourteen years ago Erika Greene went missing while her and her twin sister were playing in their backyard. Her parents, Steve and Annette Greene, have spent every year since searching for their daughter- but Friday night she was found. Authorities report she believed her abductors were her parents and have spent the last fourteen years living a lie. The photos you are now seeing are of her kidnappers, Mike and Lisa Fisher. If you see this couple, contact the authorities immediately." 

Annette pointed at the screen, "Oh my god... I know them."

My head whipped over to her, "What do you mean, you know them?"

"They used to go to our church when you girls were very young, really strange couple. Never spoke to any of us." She explained.

Right then, Steve walked in and added, "They came to the house once."

"What?" The three of us all exclaimed at once.

He nodded, "Kept asking if we needed any help with the girls, said it looked like we were struggling.. I thought it was creepy but I had no idea."

I couldn't believe anything I was hearing. This whole situation was just too much. Today had started off as a great day being home alone and getting a phone finally but had turned into the worst. From finding out I really was kidnapped, my parents had left me behind, having everyone in the area know my story, and now learning my parents were creeps who wouldn't leave this family alone. I couldn't stand it, so i ran up the stairs to my room and slammed the door shut. I just needed to shut out the world and be away.